


How To Lose a Guy (and win him back) in Ten Days

by Publisher021



Series: Publisher021's Whumptober2019 [7]
Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: And Then He's Not, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bruce knows what's up, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Jarvis is meddlesome, M/M, Natasha is so done with her boys, Sharon Carter (mentioned) - Freeform, So much angst, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Steve is in denial, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony is hopeless, author is tired and sleep deprived, he loves Steve too, he loves Tony, inspired by 'How to lose a guy in ten days', no Sharon bashing please, no pepper bashing, whumptober prompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-13
Updated: 2020-02-13
Packaged: 2021-02-28 06:13:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22699207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Publisher021/pseuds/Publisher021
Summary: Steve is still furious at Tony after their argument, and was going to do his absolute best at avoiding the infuriating man.It's a shame he can't put his plan into action, and has to put his art on hold when he gets a call from Tony. Tony who had left precisely an hour ago, dressed in a fine Tom Ford suit (that he was pretty sure costed more than he was worth), and was headed to a gala. Tony who is slurring over the phone, clearly drunk.Except, he's not drunk. He's been drugged.***Could be read as a standalone fic or could be read as a sequel after "Don't play the victim (when you're the one doing all the hurting)".
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Sharon Carter/Steve Rogers, Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: Publisher021's Whumptober2019 [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1508237
Comments: 12
Kudos: 95





	How To Lose a Guy (and win him back) in Ten Days

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ohjustpeachy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohjustpeachy/gifts), [Capsicle2013](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Capsicle2013/gifts).



> I know I promised that this would be posted at 8pm my time, for those of you who saw this posted on my Tumblr or my Instagram, I'm sorry for making you all wait. It's been hectic on my side. I apologise in advance for any spelling mistake or grammatical errors. I just wanted to get this out in time, but I've already gone an hour and twenty minutes over the agreed time period.
> 
> This is for an early Valentine's Day gifts to all of you who are looking for some angst, fluff and a happy ending. Written for day 7 of Whumptober. Prompts: delirium, adrenaline, laced drink, hallucination. 3, 13, 21, 22.
> 
> This could be read as a standalone fic or it could be read after "Don't play the victim (when you're the one doing all the hurting".

There was complete radio silence from Tony's end of the line after their rather spectacular blow up in his lab a few days ago. In the days that followed, Steve himself didn't make a point to say anything or go out of his way to see Tony, not that he wanted to, of course. He was still upset, and he had every right to be. Who did Tony think he was? He had no right to tell him that he wasn't allowed to go out with Sharon. Of all things Tony decided to get mad at him over he gets mad at that. And he was the one accused of being the hypocrite! Yet, when Tony decided it was okay to kiss him and sleep with him while claiming to still be interested in Pepper, and that things between them would never go any further than they were at the moment, it was somehow still his fault.

No, Tony was the one in the wrong here. And okay, yes, he was in the wrong, too, but Tony was the one who was most at fault. And no, he doesn't feel as if he's being petty. He feels as though he's allowed to feel petty just this once, though, and his anger and frustration (and moping - not that he was going to admit that he was moping) was justified.

He's more than ready to continue to ignore the situation, which in his head equalled to not bumping into Tony to avoid the tension. And then, he didn't even get a chance to put his plan (read: lack thereof) into action because Tony blew it all to hell in a single evening without even meaning to.

Which was exactly Tony's style. 

See, it was like this: Tony had come down from the penthouse dressed to the nines in a Tom Ford suit, shades in place over his eyes and greeted them goodbye with a jaunty wave and a wink before he left in his Audi for some charity gala.

Steve had barely had any chance to be annoyed at the showboating Tony had done for the team before Tony had completely left the tower. And by then it was too late to show his frustration and annoyance because the rest of the team had dispersed, and the only one who usually listened to his ranting about how annoying Tony was was Natasha, and she had left a few minutes after Tony had left the building to go back to her room, claiming to take a soak in her bath. 

He suspected she had left because she was secretly tired of listening to him and his long list of complaints about Tony.

Except, Natasha was extremely straightforward about these things and doesn't hesitate to show her displeasure or annoyance or anger. So he doesn't think this was the case. Maybe she was just annoyed with him for not trying to fix the whole thing with Tony. It's always hard to tell with her.

So he went to his own apartment, taking the elevator to his own floor and wandered around. He wasn't sulking, thank you very much, he was just extremely bored, and his usual confidant didn't want anything to do with him. And then he just so happened to walk past his art studio.

Steve was very glad that he decided to go down to his studio because as soon as he sat down, it was like he was struck with inspiration, something that rarely happened with an artist. 

An hour later and well into a painting of the entire team post-mission, Steve had gotten the phone call from Tony. Tony who was hiding in a bathroom and clearly inebriated. 

He was extremely annoyed and more than a little frustrated that Tony was messing around and calling him, more so because he'd just sat down and was currently busy painting, something which he rarely had time to do, and when he did, there was a distinct lack of inspiration. He'd told Tony so, ready to slam the phone down in Tony's face because he was sick of the way Tony was going on, except he'd heard the desperation in Tony's voice when he asked him to pick him up. And something obviously wasn't right, because Tony Stark didn't beg. And he also didn't ask for help.

That set alarm bells off in his head.

Something was amiss. And he was definitely not that much of a prick to let something like the argument that he and Tony were involved in stop him from thinking rationally. He needed to forget about their explosive argument if he wanted to help Tony, whether he was just messing around or if he was really in need. Not that he was willing to take the chance and put the phone down on the off chance that Tony really needed his help. 

And when he finally got off the phone with Tony, he spared a minute to think about the conversation that he had had with Pepper not even three days after his fight with Tony, when he was extremely furious and annoyed to even think straight.

She apparently had no thoughts of returning to Tony and was understandably frustrated with Tony, considering the fact that he had done the things he did, but she was also surprisingly kind towards Steve. What she had told him left him reeling. It was food for thought. And think he did. 

He felt a bit better after, but wasn't totally ready to admit that he would forgive Tony then and there. 

He and Pepper actually got on really well, despite the situation that they found themselves in. They had a shared like for all things art and had even gone to the Metropolitan Museum of Art together, with Tony insisting that he tag along. Pepper had simply raised an eyebrow at Tony before whispering in his ear that the closest Tony had come into contact with any art was whenever she bought him pieces for a collection before it went into underground storage never to be seen.

It was easy to like Pepper.

So when she came to the tower and took the elevator right down to the gym where he had been wrapping his hands ready to start on a session of boxing, he was a little less than surprised.

Pepper always did whatever she wanted, and had no time for anyone who told her that she couldn't do something.

That day she told him that he was the only person that Tony had ever properly introduced her to, disregarding the fact that he was an Avenger and she'd met him before, and had seen every piece of information museums and textbooks had on him. It was concerning that she had thought of their meeting like that, because while they had been introduced to one another, with Tony doing all the introducing, it had been nothing more than a simple meet and greet. Tony was just being polite - well, as polite as Tony Stark ever got - and she was honoured that Tony had done that.

Apparently, Tony had never introduced anybody to her. Not the way he did Steve at least. And she'd felt a bit like a proud mother when he did that. She told him that while she loved Tony, she also found it difficult to connect with him the way a partner would. Not that there was anything wrong with him, or their relationship, just that Tony had had a lot of things happen to him in his life, many of them to blame for the way he acted and was today. She told him that every single time that she and Tony took a break, she found it more difficult to come back to things the way they were before, and that he was harder to handle. Which is why she feels as though they are better off as friends.

In the interim of her and Tony's mutual break (now Steve knew that it wasn't so much as a break than a kinder way of saying they were ready to break up with one another) right before his and Steve's argument in the lab, they'd gone on an unofficial date. Well, Tony had told Rhodey that he and Steve were going to spend some time together and might get lunch or dinner. 

Rhodey had then told her and they'd agreed that in Tony-speak, it was very much a date, and in his head he saw it as that.

Even without Rhodey telling her about the not quite date, they had spent so much time together that it was clear to her that Tony honestly loved him, and had somehow, however unconsciously, had no plans on getting back together with her. Which she respected, because she loved Tony and wanted the best for him. She'd also realised that she and Tony would be better off as friends.

When she was finally finished saying whatever was on her mind, she smiled up at him, her blue eyes twinkling and patted him on the shoulder before kissing him on the cheek and wishing him luck.

For what he didn't know, but he didn't have time to ask because she was already gone, heels clacking on the way out of the gym.

That pretty much made up his mind for him.

He dropped his paintbrush and palette on the table beside his easel and ran to the garage.

When he arrived at the gala, dressed in nothing but his jeans and leather jacket, shoving through the crowd to get to Tony who just so happened to be hiding in the bathroom right by the back entrance to the hall, he understood.

Tony wasn't drunk, he was high.

And also very panicked. So much so that Steve had a hard time getting him to focus enough so that he could find out what exactly had happened. Which, once Tony had calmed down enough and understood that he didn't want to force him to leave the bathroom, was much easier.

He checked each stall to see if they were empty before locking the bathroom behind them.

"Stark! Listen to me, we're not going outside, I promise. What happened?" he asked, feeling a lump at the back of his throat. He felt guilty because he wasn't there when this had happened. Maybe if he was with Tony then this wouldn't have happened. He wouldn't have gotten the phone call from Tony and Tony would've been safe and very much not high.

Tony had a hard time focusing on him, and his eyes, with both pupils blown wide, kept on drifting to the bathroom door. It was almost as if he were afraid that the person who did this to him was going to come after him.

"Hey! Look at me, Stark. No one is coming through that door, okay? I won't let them. Do you trust me?" he asked, gripping Tony's chin until Tony was looking at him.

Tony nodded vigorously, swallowing thickly.

"Yeah. Yes, I trust you. Always, Stevie. I'm scared. My head hurts and I don't feel too good. I wanna go sleep," Tony said, slurring slightly. He gripped his head and swayed a bit, about to fall until Steve grabbed him.

Steve felt Tony's words crash into him like a tank. For his sake, and Tony's, he chose to ignore the nickname that Tony called him. He focused instead on what Tony had admitted. It was extremely unlike him to admit that he didn't feel well, even more that he was scared.

And that made every single protective instinct in him flare up.

Tony was now leaning on him, and seemed comfortable enough that he didn't want to move, and he told Steve that.

"You're so warm. And - and comfortable. I don't want to move. Can I lie on you? Then I can fall asleep," Tony whispered, almost as if he were telling Steve a secret.

Not that it was a secret, of course. Tony had told him numerous times before that he was warm and comfortable.

But that was when they were still on good terms and he didn't want to do (or say) anything when Tony couldn't defend himself in the state that he was in.

"You can sleep as soon as you tell me what happened, Tony," he said, opting to use his name instead of surname. He didn't want to try and distance himself when Tony was like this.

Tony was vulnerable and he felt like the worst person alive.

When he finally found out who it was, he was beyond mad. He saw red. 

A part of him was enraged that someone had tried to hurt Tony, had gone to extremes to do whatever unthinkable act they'd thought of to him.

And it was none other than Ty Stone.

CEO of Viastone and also Tony's ex.

He gritted his teeth against the barrage of angry words that were threatening to escape his mouth.

Tiberius Stone was going to pay.

And then he was going to make sure that that piece of scum was going to be locked up for a very, very long time.

If he had anything to say about the situation, and boy did he have a lot to say about it - and people would very well listen to what he had to say - then one certain CEO of Viastone would not get to see daylight again. 

"Tony, hey, look at me - " he gripped Tony by the shoulders. "What else do you remember?" he asked.

Tony rubbed his eye and bit his lip, not looking Steve in the eye.

"You're mad at me, aren't you?" Tony questioned, sounding upset.

And wasn't that the crux of the matter?

He was mad at Tony, but he couldn't find it in himself to be mad at Tony when he was like this. When he was stuck in this situation. Especially because he wasn't firing on all senses.

"No! I'm not mad at you, okay? I promise I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at the people who did this to you, Tony."

And while Ty was the one to put whatever drug he had chosen in Tony's drink, he was sure that Ty wasn't the only one in this. From what little Tony had told him of Ty, it didn't sound as if he could pull something like this off without the help of someone else. Someone else who had a grudge against Tony.

"Oh. I - I think I was at the bar. I was getting a bottle of water and there was someone sitting there. I can't remember. Steve, I can't remember. Why can't I remember?" Tony started breathing heavily, eyes looking wild and panicked.

Steve's heart broke at how distressed Tony was and he didn't even hesitate before pulling Tony close to him, wrapping his arms around his smaller, shaking frame.

"Sweetheart," And wow, he never thought it was so easy to slip into what they were before, easier still to use the nicknames that he teasingly called Tony whenever Tony called him by his nicknames. "Hey, it's okay. I promise. Don't stress, we'll figure it all out one step at a time. Just take it slowly, alright?"

Tony nodded, his breathing slowing down bit by bit.

He slowly moved away, unwrapping his arms from where it had been around Tony's waist until he was looking at Tony.

"We're going to go to Bruce, okay? And he'll help you feel better. And then you can sleep for as much as you like after. But we need to get out of here so that I can get you to Bruce. I'm going to unlock the door, okay?" he said, walking backwards slowly so as not to startle Tony.

Tony nodded and he turned around, unlocking the door.

"Okay, Tony -"

Big mistake. Very, very big mistake on his part.

"Steve! Steve, he's in here. No! Ty, I don't want you to touch me! Leave me alone! Stop it!" Tony shrieked, edging back until he was against the wall near the mirror, eyes moving around the room wildly and hand held up in the air as if he had his repulsors on. That action must've been his fight or flight instincts kicking into high gear as the adrenaline courses through his veins.

Steve stepped away from the door and held his hands up in surrender, inching his way slowly towards Tony.

Great, so not only was Tony high and feeling sick but he was also experiencing hallucinations where Ty was coming after him and in the room with him.

Why did things like this always happen to him?

"Tony, there's no one else in here but us. I haven't opened the door yet."

Tony blinked and then shook his head.

Steve sighed internally. For a second he actually thought that Tony had snapped out of it.

"No - no, I know that he's out there. He's -" Tony hiccuped, "He's out there, waiting for me to come out. Steve, tell him to go away!" Tony said hysterically.

He had to think quickly. He needed to get Tony out of the bathroom. But first, he needed Tony to trust him. And because Tony thought that someone was going to come after him, it didn't seem as if getting him out of the bathroom was something that was going to happen anytime soon.

Which was a massive problem for him right now, especially since he needed to get Tony to Bruce as soon as possible. He didn't like the effects that whatever was used to drug Tony had on him.

The only way he could get Tony out of the bathroom was if he carried him out. But that would garner all types of negative attention. Also, he didn't think that Tony would make his job very easy. But then again, it was never easy with Tony Stark.

And then he had an idea.

"Tony, nothing will happen, okay? JARVIS won't let anything happen to you. You remember JARVIS, don't you?" he asked, making his voice all soft and suggestive. He really needed Tony to grab the bait.

He held up his phone, waving it slightly in the air.

Tony's eyes flicked from the door to Steve's phone and then back again.

He gave a short, jerky nod.

JARVIS really wouldn't let anything happen to Tony. He remembered something from a couple of months ago, when he'd first entered Tony's workshop. 

_The A.I. hadn't been all that welcoming to him. Not that he could compare JARVIS' attitude to any other A.I. of course, seeing as JARVIS was the only learning A.I. of his time. Also, because he wasn't all too used to talking robots that lived in the ceiling. Now he knew that JARVIS was definitely more than a robot, better even, and so much more than the glorified robot butler that Tony introduced him to everyone else as._

_JARVIS… was special. Really special. And important._

_Despite the fact that he was an A.I. and not human, he tended to have human qualities and could comprehend things the way a human would. Which means that the first time he tries to enter Tony's workshop while Tony is hunkered down inside, black out mode fully functioning and into the seventy second hour without eating and sleeping, he's barred by the loyal A.I._

_At the time it confused him, and he's ashamed enough to admit that he was frustrated then. Frustrated that he wasn't getting anywhere with Tony despite them having to communicate with one another due to being on the same team, and now frustrated with the man's A.I for barring him from the workshop when he was just trying to get Tony to surface from the workshop and get some semblance of a healthy human eating and sleeping schedule._

_He was about to say something - probably something not all too smart seeing as he just so happened to say stupid things and run his mouth when he was annoyed and becoming frustrated - when JARVIS spoke up._

_To this day, he's glad that JARVIS had stopped him from saying something that he would regret Sad to say, it usually happened whenever Tony was involved. Which was ninety-nine percent of the time, actually._

_"Captain Rogers, Sir has made it very clear that he does not want to be disturbed by anyone at the moment. May I be of assistance, instead?" the A.I. asked him._

_By then, he was practically taking really long, even breaths to prevent himself from saying anything less than satisfactory. He was not going to stoop down to such a level._

_He was better than that._

_"Thank you, JARVIS but that won't be necessary. Can you tell Tony that he needs to come up, please? The team and I are really worried about him. We haven't seen him in over three days and as far as we know he hasn't gotten any sleep."_

_He kept his voice level. Calm. He didn't want to come across as hostile or accusatory, especially since he and Tony weren't on the very best of terms._

_Not for lack of trying on his part, though. Some days he wonders why he even bothers trying to be civil towards Tony when the man himself couldn't even find it in himself to be less sarcastic and ditch the "fuck it all" attitude that he seemed to exude._

_There was a pregnant pause as he waited for an answer from the A.I. and he wondered, if however briefly, if he had made a grave mistake with his choice of wording._

_Maybe it wasn't as subtle as he thought it sounded in his head._

_"Captain Rogers, if I may say something," JARVIS said, sounding oddly void of any and all emotion he usually seemed to possess._

_He nodded, even though the A.I. wasn't standing in front of him like a human would._

_"Of course, JARVIS."_

_"Sir created me at a very young age. An age where most pubescent teenage boys would be fooling around with girls," and wow, wasn't that something he never expected to hear the A.I. tell him. "As most of his attempts at creating a learning artificial intelligence, it failed drastically, but Sir never gave up. He believed in me and no matter how many people told him he would not succeed in creating me, he still defended my honour. In a way, he was being protective of something that was barely a proper idea, let alone a physical object."_

_He stayed quiet, not knowing where JARVIS was going with this but knowing enough that he wasn't supposed to interrupt._

_"Sir named me after his family butler, Edwin Jarvis, and as my successor once did, my prime directive is to protect Sir. Sir is my first priority, and anyone and everything else will always come after him, unless ordered otherwise," JARVIS said._

_And then he understood._

_JARVIS was warning him. Apparently, the A.I. wasn't sure what his intentions were and thought it best to warn him that should he try to harm Tony in any way, things wouldn't be in his favor._

_Of course, the A.I. was extremely polite when threatening him, but it still made him freeze for a minute or two._

_He would never hurt Tony, no matter how infuriating the man was._

_What kind of person would he be then, if he stopped so low as to harm another person just because they weren't on the same terms as each other?_

_"JARVIS, I really don't know what you want me to say, but I would never hurt Tony. We just worry about him. We haven't seen or heard from him in over three days and it's more than a little concerning," he said._

_JARVIS must've heard the sincerity in his voice or something because the black out mode that once blocked the lab off to anyone who tried to disturb Tony lifted, and the glass doors slid open, revealing the artificial light on the inside of the lab. JARVIS turned down the music in the lab and the effect it had was obvious; Tony turned around, confused at the distinct lack of music. And that's when he saw Steve standing in his lab._

_He'd like to say that he and Tony immediately started a conversation, maybe about the team or maybe about what Tony was doing, but that wasn't the case. A myriad of emotions flickered over Tony's face, but he could only identify two; betrayal and annoyance._

_It didn't make him feel all too great, if he were honest._

_He must've showed his hurt on his own face or something because Tony gave him a smile and his eyes softened. The smile wasn't real, that much he could tell. Straight of the bat he knew that the smile Tony was giving him was forced. But he appreciated it nonetheless._

_He wasn't looking to argue, and in that short span of JARVIS opening the doors for him and Tony smiling at him (however forcefully) he knew that Tony Stark was someone that he had to be careful around._

_Not because he was dangerous, although he was under no disillusionment that Tony could be dangerous - he saw what Tony did to the remainder of the Ten Rings - but because the Tony he was seeing in front of him was hiding something._

_And he'd like to know what._

_A few weeks later, he'll find out that what Tony was hiding away from the entire world at large was his true colours. And that same day, he realised why JARVIS was so protective of his creator. He vowed that nobody would hurt Tony, even if it meant that he had to distance himself so that he wouldn't hurt him._

The conversation that he had with JARVIS replayed in his mind, sparking his anger at Tiberius Stone once more.

He knew what he had to do.

And nothing was going to stop him.

Tony was his main priority. He was willing to put aside his own annoyance and anger at Tony from their argument and focus on the state that Tony was in.

What if he didn't get to Tony in time?

He doesn't spare any more time thinking about the what ifs and instead focuses on Tony. Tony who was extremely confused and terrified and under the effects of whatever drugs had been slipped into his drink, suffering from a brief bout of delirium and hallucinations. Tony who as soon as this was over would lock himself into his lab and wouldn't leave until this blew over and everyone forgot about it.

His main priority right now was to get Tony out of the bathroom and to Bruce at the Tower. He knows that Tony hates medical, but he would feel so much better if he knew what was really wrong with Tony.

He knows that it's wrong, and he knows that if Tony wasn't high or whatever was wrong with him, then Tony would be betrayed by what he was thinking of doing, but he was desperate, and it was for Tony's own good.

No matter how guilty betraying Tony's trust in him made him feel, using Tony's own A.I. against him was the only way that they could get out of the bathroom, and he intended to use it.

"Tony, JARVIS is going to tell us if it's safe or not for us to leave the bathroom, okay? If there's no one outside then we can leave, and if there is then JARVIS will make sure that they don't come after you - us, okay? JARVIS always keeps you safe, doesn't he? He looks after you?" he says it softly, praying to whatever godly beings were listening that Tony would trust him on this one and let them leave the bathroom.

"Hello, Sir. Captain Rogers is indeed correct. There is no one outside the bathroom and should anyone try to come into contact with you, I'll make sure they leave straight away. You're in safe hands, Sir," JARVIS' voice is oddly gentle for something that isn't living, and once again, he's reminded of just how clever Tony was to create something like JARVIS. 

When Tony nods slowly, he struggles to contain the grin that threatens to break out across his face. It can't have been that easy, could it?

But he's not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and he's soon standing next to where Tony had huddled himself into a corner of the bathroom, trying to hide away from whatever person was 'coming after him'.

He gently pulls Tony towards him and is surprised at how easy Tony falls against his side, trusting. When Tony puts a hand around his forearm and rests his head on his shoulder, he has to tell himself that this is not real, and that it's not right. Because Tony is still mad at him, he's still mad at Tony and this is all not real because someone drugged Tony. He just needed help, and called the first person he knew.

It didn't make everything between them right again, and he needs to get that straight. 

He thinks of Sharon who is sweet and kind. She's not his type, and he thinks that he put her in the 'friends' category. That's as far as he even got to admitting that he was head over heels in love with Tony, but he's too proud to admit it.

And then he thinks of Tony who is warm and all-too trusting and vulnerable right now, Tony who is currently dosing on his feet, head leaning on his shoulder and using him as a crutch and he feels the familiar burn of anger flow through him once more.

He needs to leave the gala, and soon. Tony needs to be checked over and the right people need to be notified on Tony's status (he knows that Pepper won't be too happy with him if he doesn't alert her, and Rhodes would be extremely worried and concerned about what his best friend had to ordeal at an event that supposedly had the best security), and he just wants to get home to the Tower as soon as possible and leave behind the terrible events of tonight.

But first, he needed to make a few calls.

Natasha, surprisingly, answers on the first ring. And despite his earlier assumptions of her leaving him due to all of his complaints centering around Tony (who he was currently babysitting in a public bathroom), she sounds perfectly normal.

Although, that could just be Natasha. She sounds normal whenever she's sparring against Clint, or whenever she's shooting at the enemy. So maybe she was still annoyed at him, but was extremely good at hiding it. He doesn't dwell on those thoughts and gets straight to the point.

"Hi, Tasha. What do you know about a certain Tiberius Stone? The CEO of Viastone." If his ma were still alive she would have flicked his ear and glared at him as he asked the question. She always hated people that were impolite, and believed that you had to always be polite to a woman. Seeing as it was the twenty-first century and all, he knew that people thought a whole lot more differently, and if he tried to treat Natasha like he was brought up to, she would be less than pleased. So while he tried to treat her like he treated everyone else, habits were hard to break.

And yet he could practically imagine his ma rolling in her grave when he asked her that. 

He can practically see Natasha's raised eyebrows as he says those words, and yet, he doesn't feel the particular need to explain himself just yet. 

He likes to think that she won't be too mad at him for calling her, and since they're closer since living together - she lets him call her Tasha, if anyone else does it she glared at them until they either fall over themselves trying to apologize to her or they back off - he likes to think that she knows him well enough by now to know that he'll tell her things when he's ready to tell her.

Natasha, true to her words, doesn't push him. But she does question him.

"Why?"

He stays silent, opting instead to glance down at Tony who is now properly asleep on his shoulder. He'd find it funny if the circumstances were different, but as they weren't, and he wasn't in the best of moods, he was feeling extremely annoyed and angry. He shifts his arm slightly, gripping Tony tighter to his side and tries to wake him up. 

He doesn't know what drugs Tony was fed, and he'd feel better if Tony stayed awake until he got him safely back to Bruce at the tower.

"Steve, what did you do?" Natasha doesn't sound accusatory, whereas if the question came from someone else it would, and he'd have bristled. If anything, he feels like he should do something to Stone just for even thinking of drugging Tony.

"Nothing." He's aware that his response was short and gruff, but he couldn't care less. 

Natasha sounds oddly amused, and all too knowing when she replies. "Alright, don't kill anyone," she says, sounding downright cheerful.

When there's silence on the other end, he puts his phone away in his pocket with a sigh, only then realising that Natasha hadn't given him any information on Stone.

Instead, it sounded like she was almost encouraging him to get back at that prick that drugged Tony.

If Tony wasn't falling asleep on him while standing up in a bathroom at a gala that he was currently the one in charge of organising, he would have entertained the idea of getting revenge on Tiberius Stone for a minute.

But as it were, he had to think of what that would do to his reputation (not that he really cared about it all too much at this point, actually) but also to Tony's reputation.

Tony was already upset with him.

  
He shelves the thought and refocuses on Tony who is struggling to keep himself awake. 

"Tony, come on. No sleeping just yet. We still have to leave, alright? And then you can sleep as much as you want to, okay?" he says, resisting the urge to pull his hand through Tony's hair.

The brown strands that he knew to be soft and silky were all tousled and out of place compared to how it had been styled when Tony had just left the tower for the gala.

He loved the way that Tony looked when his hair was like this; no product and silky-soft. He knew that Tony didn't like the way he looked without styling his hair, or even when wearing clothing that wasn't fancy, such as the lab clothes that he so often fell asleep in, but personally, privately, he loved this Tony.

Tony who wore track pants that were so well-loved and worn that they were practically threadbare, who liked to wear oversized shirts and cardigans that didn't belong to him, rather items that were stolen from the other team members, sometimes Natasha if he was feeling brave and she wasn't feeling to murderous. 

He loved the Tony who smiled widely, who gave real smiles and not smiles that were fake and razor sharp like those likened to those of a shark. Tony's fake smiles were made of plastic, so hard and brittle that he was afraid that Tony would crack, but Tony surprised him time and time again whenever he happened to be watching Tony interact with an overexcited journalist who didn't know their boundaries, those smiles were tailored specifically for journalists like that, his smile predatory sarcastic.

When Tony looked up at him with a glare, he knew he was gone for, because frankly, Tony wasn't exactly that threatening in the state that he was in. If anything, Tony was like a small, angry little kitten. An adorable kitten that wasn't his right now.

Tony wasn't his, was never his to start with, and these thoughts that were swirling around his head needed to stop or he was going to lose his mind.

God, why had he ever decided to leave the peace of his art studio back at the tower?

Well, he knew why, the reason was currently trying to persuade him to let them fall asleep on his shoulder (which he wasn't going to fall for, dammit, he wasn't a pushover) but wasn't very successful.

"No," Tony growled, scowling a little and he felt his heart beat faster. Tony Stark was going to be the death of him. And he couldn't even find it in himself to be mad at the man!

"Tony, please. Bruce is waiting for us at the tower. He has something he wants to share with you. You like spending time with Bruce, don't you?" he asks.

Tony stops headbutting his shoulder and his eyebrows furrow in thought. He nods not even a second later and at that moment Steve regrets not mentioning Bruce sooner.

"See? Bruce will even let you sleep when you get to the tower."

"Yes! Come Steve, I want to see Brucie-bear now." Tony rights himself, whatever tiredness that was marring his features suddenly gone and excitement lighting up his face. He tugs insistently on Steve's hand and is instantly frustrated when Steve doesn't budge when he tries to pull him.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, Tony! You need to go easy, okay? How's your head? Are you still feeling sick?" he asked, tugging Tony back until he was facing him so that he could scan him over once more.

Tony frowned at the question and tilted his head to the side.

"Steve," Tony says sounding all confused again, "Stevie, my head still hurts. Why is it hurtin'? Can you call Pepper? She's always gotta headache pill for me. She's the - the best. You'll love her." Tony states matter-of-factly.

And then he frowns again, looking at Steve as if he kicked his puppy. "Steve, don't you love me? 'm sorry. Pep says I gotta say sorry if I'm - if I'm rude to someone. She says I gotta have manners. Was I - did I say something bad?" 

He feels his throat close up and his eyes prickle. Was this - Is this how Tony actually felt? So he wasn't the only one then; he wasn't the only one who was convinced that they were the reason that the other didn't reciprocate each other's feelings,Tony felt the same way too.

"No, I - No, Tony, sweetheart, you never said anything bad, okay? We can talk about this later. For now, you need to tell Bruce how you're feeling, and then we can leave this place and you can sleep for as long as you like. How's that sound?" he asks, and he's more than aware that his own voice sounds shaky and hoarse, but Tony's too engrossed in dialling Bruce from Steve's cellphone that he doesn't hear.

"Brucie-bear! Hi! Steve says I have to tell you that I'm not feeling great and I have a headache. He won't let me fall asleep, Bruce. Tell him to let me sleep," Tony whined into the phone.

From the tinny voice on the other end of the line, he can distinguish Bruce's confusion and slight worry. He thanks the supersoldier serum for his enhanced hearing and motions for Tony to hand him the phone, which Tony does with a pout.

"Hi, Doctor Banner. I - yes. No, he's extremely out of it. His pupils are blown and he's clearly been drugged with something, suffering from gaps in his memory. It's - it looks bad, but maybe I'm just being paranoid. I was hoping you could take a look at him when we get back to the tower?"

When he gets an affirmative sounding sound he takes it as an okay to put the phone down and end the call, which he does despite the wide eyes that Tony is sending him.

He raises an eyebrow at Tony who's gone back to pouting at him now. And no, it wasn't fair. Why did Tony always have to make his life so difficult? He just wanted to get Tony out of this godforsaken bathroom and away from the ritzy gala filled to the brim with peroxide blond men and women and glittering jewels that costs more than the clothing he was currently wearing and back to the safety of the tower where he could be examined properly by Bruce.

This is why he was considering retiring. Because people - and maybe this was punishment for putting his ma and Bucky through all the trouble when he was younger and getting into fights that he had no way of getting out of - or whatever higher power was in existence loved testing his limits. And it wasn't just any thing that tested his limits, no, it was aliens and robots and genetically enhanced humans that were grown in a test tube in the dark of a supposedly unknown Hydra cell and one gorgeous man by the name of Tony Stark. And not all in that order, but of course it would come down to this. Tony was always testing his ability to remain sane.

At least he managed to phone Bruce and get him to prepare the medbay for when he and Tony arrived back at the tower. Over the phone Bruce had sounded calm - he purposely ignores the thought that he might have disturbed the scientist from his daily yoga session and angered him - but he could sense the distinct note of worry in his tone, and was quick to placate the man, lest he turns into his mean green alter ego. After all, Tony wasn't as bad as he had seemed earlier when he first got to the man, and seemed happier and less panicked at the moment, although at the rate Tony's behaviour had changed from one state to the next, he wasn't banking on the fact that Tony would stay in the joyful mood he was in, no matter how much he wanted Tony to.

"Steve, Bruce and I were busy talking. Why did you cut the call? That's not nice, Stevie," Tony whined and he had to hold back a chuckle before he did anything stupid like laugh at how adorable Tony was behaving in this moment. 

He had a job to do, and until Tony was safely back at the tower and away from whoever had drugged his drink, he'd treat this as a mission. 

A mission that had one objective; protect Tony at all costs.

So he ignored Tony's whining and the pout that made him want to back Tony up against a wall and kiss him until he was breathless (he knew it wasn't ever going to happen again, and told himself to forget it) and spun Tony around until the man was looking at him face to face. His eyes searched Tony's blown ones, and grabbed his hands, effectively stilling their movements midair. 

"Tony, Bruce is waiting for us at the tower, okay? He's waiting for you. And then you can sleep. But first, we have to leave the bathroom. I'm going to walk with you out of the door, and we're going to head to my car that's parked outside." He hopes that Tony understands what he's saying. He just wants to leave the stupid gala already.

Except, Tony's looking at him in confusion, head cocked to one side and eyebrows furrowed. He can already feel his heart sink right down to his feet at the sight. Tonight was just not going to plan. 

When Tony had left for the gala, having to rush to the hall and find Tony boxed in the men's bathroom drugged up to his gills with who-knows what was the farthest thought from his mind at the time; all that he had planned for the evening was to paint a bit, and take a warm shower before climbing into bed and settling in for the night with a book.

"Steve," Tony says extremely seriously, head righting itself, "you've said that already. At least five times, if I'm not mistaken. Why are you repeating yourself?" he asks, sounding slightly confused and amused all together. It's a weird combination and yet, that's all that he can think of when he looks at Tony at this moment.

Well, there's the snarky genius that everyone (himself included) knows and loves.

By now, he's literally had enough of everything and is so frustrated that he doesn't even think before grabbing Tony's hand and heading towards the bathroom door.

Right, whether Tony wanted to or not, they were going to leave this bathroom and the gala, and nothing would get him to stop.

Apparently, Tony had no qualms with his idea, seeing as he let himself be pulled along for the ride. 

It was only as they passed through the long, winding hallway that from the ballroom to the men's bathroom that they slowed down. He could sense the growing fear emanating from Tony, and he squeezed Tony's hand gently, giving him what he hopes is a supportive smile. He's got Tony's back, no matter how mad he was at Tony - he's not ready to admit that his lingering anger at Tony from their argument the other day was slowly dissipating the longer he spent time with him - and it's about time Tony realised that.

They move silently down the hallway, and they can hear they can hear the murmuring of many different voices all at once the further they move down the hallway, getting closer and closer to the ballroom with each step.

They finally reach the ballroom and make quick work of leaving, keeping their heads down and both of their hands at their sides. If anyone does happen to see them together at the gala, at least there won't be more rumours being spread about them, or their apparent romantic involvement with one another. After tonight, he doesn't think that Tony's ego would last if someone spread something like that. It was enough that he had called Steve.

Outside the night is cooler, and Steve feels as though he can breathe easier. He ignores the parking valet and takes his car keys, heading towards his car. Tony follows along obediently, not questioning anything or even where Steve was leading him. It's strange to think that Tony was willing to trust him so fully, but he's not looking to change that. He hopes that Tony realises that he's one more person that he has in his corner.

It's when Tony's gotten into the car and he's shut the door behind the genius that he hears the sound of gravel being crushed underfoot that he realises that someone was standing nearby, watching them, probably having seen everything that had just happened.

He turns around and is ready to defend Tony should the need arise when he sees just who is standing by his car.

His blood pressure rises significantly higher than what it had been earlier on when Tony had explained to him what had happened and it's only when he thinks of Tony who is sitting in the passenger seat of his car that he keeps himself calm.

Not that he's feeling all too calm at the moment, in fact, he's the exact opposite of calm right now. 

Tiberius Stone stands behind him, hands pocketed in his slacks, body language nonchalant but he's betrayed by the smug look on his face.

He takes a deep breath, holding it in and counts backwards from ten. When he deems himself calm enough, he stares at Stone, narrowing his eyes and crosses his arms.

"What did you do to Tony?" he asks. And okay, yes, maybe he shouldn't have accused the man outright, especially since there was no evidence pointing to the man, but he trusted Tony's word. Besides, the man standing in front of him just had a whole feeling about him that screamed 'untrustworthy'.

Stone cokced his head, looking confused. "Me, Captain? I haven't done anything to Tony."

Steve can instantly tell that he's lying.

"What. Did. You. Do. To. Tony" he grits out. He wasn't going to stand around and pretend to be interested in what this piece of scum had to say about Tony. He wasn't interested in his fabricated lies either.

Stone straightens up. "Nothing, Cap. And you can't prove that I did anything to Tony either, can you? You have no proof. And if this gets out, it's his word against mine. I'm willing to bet that people will be in my favour, especially since this whole situation we're finding ourselves in -" he motions to Tony who's still sitting in the car, oblivious to what's going on just outside the car, "Is normal for him. Tony's always experimented. You can't say that this is anything out of the ordinary. Who's to say that this was him just having some fun and then having taken too much this time? It's happened often enough. And besides, what motive would I possibly have for wanting to drug Tony?" Stone asks, spreading his hands wide.

His grin is wide, sharp. Steve immediately dislikes it.

He doesn't understand why Stone would admit to drugging Tony. Why even drug Tony in the first place?

He asks Stone this.

"Why did you drug him? What were you possibly hoping to achieve by doing this to him?" he asks. He's so furious that he's hands are shaking with the effort to keep from punching Tiberius Stone in his ugly face.

Stone smiles wider.

"Because I figured that Tony deserved it! He took what was rightfully mine. Do you have any -"

He doesn't wait for Stone to finish and punches him right in the face, wiping the grin off his face.

Satisfaction is thrumming through his veins and he feels himself grin at the petty revenge.

Stone deserved getting punched in the face.

He steps around Stone's pathetic form that is hunched over, clutching at his bleeding nose and gets into the car, shutting the door behind him and smiles down at Tony's sleeping form.

Tony was fast asleep, his head leaving against the closed window and his hands wrapped around the seat belt.

***

Getting to the tower doesn't take lots of time, in fact, they reach the tower in five minutes and he immediately let's JARVIS know that he's got Tony and is ready for Bruce to see him.

Tony's asleep in his arms and he has no doubt about it that if Tony were awake, he'd be pretty mortified to hear that Steve had carried him in a bridal carry.

He's just stepping out of the elevator when he sees Natasha waiting for him. Apparently, she had been waiting for him for a while; there was a novel lying on the seat next to her, and he could see the flashes coming from the big screen light up the dimly lit room.

When he steps cautiously out of the elevator, she raises an eyebrow and smirks.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the knight in shining armour. Wait, that's Tony. You're the knight in red, white and blue spandex." she says with an amused smile playing on her lips. She stands up from the sofa that she had been lying on and walks towards the pair, eyeing Tony with critical eyes.

"How's our resident genius doing?" she asks, worry shining in her green eyes. She rubs a hand against Tony's face before scratching at his scalp with her fingernails. She stops when Tony's nose scrunches up and he tucks his face into Steve's chest. She raises an eyebrow and steps back once more, a smirk on her face.

"Take him to Bruce, Cap. I'm sure the good doctor is tired of waiting by now. I know I am," she says and he nods, walking down the hallway that leads to the medbay, Natasha following.

"It's okay, Nat. I've got it from here," he says and she frowns, but doesn't push. Instead, she stands on her tiptoes, leaning toward to place a kiss to his forehead and then one on Tony's.

"Right. Well, I've got a movie date with Clint. He's probably bored out of his mind right now. I'm not looking forward to seeing arrows buried in my wall because of boredom. Tell me what Doctor Banner says, and come up to my floor when you're ready. I've got info on Stone," she says.

She's gone in less than a minute and he shakes his head.

When he gets to the medbay, he sees Bruce waiting there, glasses rested on the bridge of his nose and is settled comfortably in a chair, some sort of textbook in his hands.

He clears his throat and Bruce jumps, and then relaxes when he realises that it's him. He puts his textbook down on the table beside him and stands, walking towards them.

"Hey, Cap. You can put him down over there. You say he was drugged?" Bruce asks.

He nods, putting Tony down gently onto the bed. Tony stirs slightly, and he pauses, but to no avail. Tony wakes, eyes blinking against the harsh artificial light coming from overhead.

"Steve?" he slurs. He looks disorientated, and he opens his mouth to reassure Tony that he was fine, and that he was safely at the tower, but then Bruce is suddenly at his side and leaning over Tony's form.

He steps back, feeling as though he's not needed, and keeps to the side, content to just be standing there watching over Tony.

"Tony? Are you okay? How are you feeling?" Bruce asks. He's cleaning his glasses using the bottom of his lab coat, eyes checking over Tony.

When Tony doesn't answer, eyes searching for something he can't find, Bruce turns to him.

"Steve, how was he when you first found him? Any speech impairments? You said that he told you he was feeling dizzy and that his head hurt," Bruce asks him and he nods.

"Yeah, Tony was slurring a bit, much like he did just now. Uh, he said that his head hurt and that he was feeling dizzy. And he also seemed to be hallucinating. He thought that there was someone else with us in the bathroom." He glances over to Tony who's shut his eyes again.

Bruce sighs, punching the bridge of his nose. He puts his glasses back on and looks over at Tony. When he sees that Tony's drifting off again, he shakes him awake.

Tony's eyes fly open and he whines, swatting half-heartedly at Bruce.

Bruce smiles amusedly and shakes his head at Tony's antics.

He looks at Steve again. "Did you perhaps get his bottle of water that he drank from? If you have it I can take a sample from it and check what he might've been drugged with." he says, and Steve can just about kick himself for not thinking of that.

How useless. How was he supposed to help Tony when he forgot something as important at that?

Bruce seems to see his inner turmoil and sends him a small smile. "Don't worry, Steve. I can still check. All I need is a sample of Tony's blood. Hopefully JARVIS will be able to help me pick up on whatever is lingering in his bloodstream. Thank God you called me when you did, because if Tony came home and we only picked it up tomorrow morning, it would be too late. We'd hardly be able to pick up on whatever's on his bloodstream," Bruce said.

With those words, he can feel himself breathe easier.

"Do you think you'll be able to see what Tony's been drugged with?" he asks. He's oddly nervous, but it's Tony, so all rational thought seems to fly out the window when he's involved in anything.

Bruce nods. "I think I'll be able to see, yes. And if I do happen to miss anything then we've got JARVIS to help and pick up on it. Although, judging by what you've told me, it seems as though this is just your standard run of the mill drug. Not bad enough to have any bad lingering effects on him, but I have a hunch that it was mixed with a few other drugs as well. Tony's actually really lucky. From what I've seen, this is the tamest effects that someone who's been drugged have ever experienced."

Despite the sombre mood, he finds himself letting loose a chuckle.

"Tell me about it. Tony just wanted to sleep," he says and Bruce laughs.

"See? There's nothing to worry about, Steve," Bruce assures him.

He nods, taking Bruce's word and allows himself to be reassured.

Tony will be fine.

Bruce turns around and gathers all the equipment he'll be needing. Tony is now awake once more and is glaring daggers at Bruce, probably for waking him up.

Steve feels his fingers twitch and he wished he had a pencil and some paper so that he could draw Tony. Tony's hair was all mussed and his expensive suit rumpled. In that moment he's never wanted Tony to be his more.

This was the real Tony.

This was the Tony that he was in love with. But it's also the Tony that he could never have.

His view of Tony is obscured by Bruce who is now standing in front of him, cleaning his arm with an antiseptic wipe

Bruce preps the needle and three vials and in less than a second the needle had pierced Tony's skin, and Tony watches with childlike fascination how the blood flows through the tube and into the vials.

In less than five minutes, the entire process is done and Bruce gathers his equipment to pack away.

Tony is now playing with the iron man plaster that Bruce had given him to stick over his arm and is smiling dopily.

"We're all done here. I'd like to keep him here overnight, just for peace of mind," Bruce is quick to add, "JARVIS can monitor him better from here and should anything happen can notify me immediately. You can go to bed, Steve. I'm sure he'll be fine and you look like you need the sleep."

He felt as if he were being tugged into two; half of him wanted to climb into bed and forget the whole ordeal and the other half wanted to stay until Tony woke up.

After all, they did need to talk. 

"I - "

He doesn't know what to say. How else could he say that he wanted to be there when Tony woke up? He didn't want to appear transparent, although he knows that the entire team knew about his and Tony's argument the other day. 

"I think I'm going to get some sleep. Don't forget to rest, Bruce. You need sleep as well," he says, even though his words are hollow and empty. He doesn't need to sleep. He's not tired. But he knows that it's a lost cause and he should just leave it at that.

So instead he nods. He turns to leave and is more than surprised when Tony calls after him, iron man sticker now forgotten.

"Steve! Where are you going? You have to stay with me!" he calls. Tony's hand is outstretched towards him and he has a determined look on his face.

He turns around, face showing his confusion.

"Why?" he asks and Tony frowns. "Because I can't sleep without you here with me. Steve, what if they come back?" Tony asks.

He can hear Bruce puttering around in the background, his back turned towards them to give them some semblance of privacy.

"Tony," he finds himself sighing, "They aren't going to come back, you're safe here in the tower. Bruce and JARVIS are watching over you, okay? You'll be fine. Just go to sleep."

Tony's face falls and his hand drops to his side.

"But you promised you were going to stay with me," he whispers.

He feels himself panic, and his heart feels heavy all of a sudden. Because he didn't tell Tony that tonight, it was something that he'd whispered to Tony after, when they were laying in bed all sweaty and glowing. Tony had gone still and then scoffed. But he had seen the happy look that Tony's face had made. His promise hadn't been fulfilled then, because not even two days later Tony catches him having dinner with Sharon. 

It wasn't even that he cheated on Tony, because what he and Sharon had going on was nothing romantic and completely platonic, except Tony didn't know that. He just played it off as if he and Sharon were together. Not very well, though, since Tony standing in the lab shouting at him was all it took to get him to feel guilty. But Tony had to at least acknowledge the fact that what he was doing to him was wrong too. He was getting sick of them just sleeping together and then Tony telling him after that he and Pepper were just in a break. He was beginning to feel used. And, if you don't count his pride, it was really beginning to hurt him too, especially since he had started to develop feeling for the tower's resident genius.

So he played it off.

"I did promise, didn't I? Okay, hiw about you sleep here tonight, no, I will not be sleeping here in the medbay with you -" he didn't think he could stand to be in such close proximity with Tony any longer. He'd reached his daily quota two and a half hours ago. "Tomorrow when you wake up, I'll be waiting right here for you. How does that sound?" 

Tony nods reluctantly, and despite telling himself to gain distance away from Tony, he reaches out a hand and smooths a loose curl away from Tony's eye, rubbing his finger along his face.

"Goodnight, Tony. Sleep well," he says.

He's gone not even a minute later, the glass doors of the medbay swishing shut behind him.

He knows that he just told another lie to Tony; he's not going to be waiting there for Tony when he wakes up tomorrow morning.

***

He's right and he hates himself. Bruce had informed him that Tony had woken up over and escaped from medbay to his lab in the interim that he had gone to get himself some tea from the communal kitchen.

There's nothing to worry about, Tony made a wonderful recovery and there were no lingering drugs in his bloodstream, but Tony was now hiding away in his lab. 

The lab that was now under complete blackout mode.

He doesn't know what to do with that information, there's nothing he can do about it.

So he does what he does best; get's his anger and frustration and embarrassment and longing out of his system by heading to the gym and punching itt out.

***

He's so goddamn embarrassed by his actions from the night before that should he ever decide to leave the lab - which, thank you very much, was not going to happen in the next ten years, he'll send out the iron man suit and pilot it from the tower if there was a need for iron man out in the field - he's not sure how he's going to show his face.

How could he have gone on like that? And around Steve no less! 

Why did he even phone Steve in the first place? God knows that Pepper was the one he called when he found himself in these sort of situations; she was his emergency contact.

Ugh.

He spins around in his rolling chair, twirling his tie from last night's suit around in his fingers.

"Hey, JARVIS, do Daddy a favour and reply the footage from last night. All of it, don't skip or fast forward anything," he says and closes his eyes, mentally preparing himself for what he was about to see.

The footage plays and throughout the recordings, all he can think about is how stupid he had been last night.

God, Steve had the patient of a saint. He needed to apologise.

Oh, wait. He couldn't do that face to face. He'll just have to get him a gift that says 'hey, I'm sorry for making a complete fool of myself and making you babysit me, but here, take this as a token of my apology'. So he'll send a fruit basket then, actually, he thinks he'd rather buy him something artsy. Steve liked that.

He recalls Steve carrying him last night in his arms like he was some sort of invalid and groans, putting his head in his hands. Steve was so warm and had smelt so nice. And he was really good at cuddling, not that he would ever be caught saying that, of course.

God, he was so fucked.

***

He's just coming back from his mission of getting to the kitchen without catching anyone from the team's attention and getting a fresh pot of coffee, and is about to step into the lab when JARVIS stops him.

"Sir, the lab is locked," JARVIS informs him.

He blinks.

"Excuse me? I thought I heard you say that the lab is locked."

"Yes, Sir. The lab is indeed locked," JARVIS says and he rolls his eyes.

Sometimes he wondered why he made A.I's that just repeated everything he said. 

"So? Unlock it, Jay," he orders.

He moves forward again and stops short when he realises that the doors to his lab aren't opening.

"Jay, buddy, what's going on?" he asks. He frowns.

"Sir, the lab will remain unlocked until you and Captain Rogers talk to one another," the A.I. tells him, sounding extremely self-assured and more than a little smug.

The sip of coffee he had taken goes down the wrong pie and he chokes, spilling the rest of the coffee down his front.

"Sorry? JARVIS, just open the doors! You can't tell me what to do," he says, beginning to get annoyed.

The doors remained closed.

"I apologize, Sir, but I cannot do that. My main priority is to look out for you and I believe that it is in your best interest if you and the good Captain talk to one another."

He scowled glaring at the nearest camera he could find and hoped that JARVIS got the message.

Apparently he didn't, because the doors stayed stubbornly closed and he sighed.

There was simply no winning this one. He couldn't break down the doors; he knew how difficult they were to break (they didn't) because he built them. And he knew that JARVIS couldn't be overridden because he was fulfilling the reason for which he was built: looking our for his creator.

"I hate you so much right now, JARVIS. When you realise that you've made a mistake and unlock the doors the two of us are going to be having a long discussion about disobedience and what it means to mind your own business," he mutters.

"I look forward to it, Sir. Our discussions are always worthwhile, but I believe you have someone to speak to. And no, Sir, the penthouse is also locked down and will remain so until you speak to Captain Rogers. You'll find him in the gym, Sir."

He gapes, and then scowls again, heading to the elevator.

Maybe he should just disable JARVIS. 

What's the point of having an A.I if they were just going to go against you and be disobedient?

***

He lost track of time a while ago, but he knows he's been down in the gym for a long time. Natasha and Clint had long come to soar and then left again, same with Bucky and Sam.

And he was still going at the punching bags.

The pile of sandbags had grown significantly since he'd come down to the gym and he felt a surge of guilt at the fact that the money to replace them was coming out of Tony's pocket.

But that surge of guilt was wiped out at the thought of Tony. 

Why did he have to fall in love with Tony? Why was it always someone that he couldn't have?

He's so tuned into his own thoughts that he doesn't hear the doors to the gym slide open and someone walk in, nor does he hear that someone clear their throat.

It's only when someone touches his shoulder that he startles, jumping slightly out of fright and he's nearly too late to stop from punching the person in the face.

Luckily the person ducks just in time and he brings his fist down to his sides.

He's surprised to see that the person down in the gym with him is none other that Tony. He looks much better now, all rested and wearing something that isn't a rumpled suit. His hair's still disheveled but that just makes him look more real.

He turns around, ignoring Tony and pulls the bag off the hook and lifts it onto his shoulder, walking over to the built-in rack to the side of the gym to pack it away.

He's packed it onto the rack and is now unwrapping his hands, wincing from how stiff and sore his hands are from boxing so long. His hands are torn and bruised but it's nothing he's not used to.

He thinks he's done a good job of ignoring Tony so far but the man has to ruin it for him, stepping into his space and grimacing at his hands.

"Are you deliberately trying to injure yourself, Rogers?" Tony bites out, grabbing both of his hands in his and turning it this way and that, examining them closely.

He winces and Tony catches him, eyes going soft and he adjusts his grip on his hands, but Tony's misunderstood; he couldn't help but feel a stab of pain at the way Tony didn't call him Steve and chose to call him by his last name instead.

He'd gotten so used to Tony calling him by his name last night, and it's a very rude awakening.

He pulls his hands our of Tony's grip and steps back, not looking Tony in the eye and gathers his things.

It's not much, just a towel and two bottles of water, but it's enough time for Tony to step into his space again.

"Can you move, please, I need to get back to my floor," he says.

Tony's got a look in his eye that he immediately dislikes. Tony's not going to make this any easier on him.

"We need to talk. About last night, I mean," Tony says bluntly.

His heart skips a beat and he struggled to keep his face straight, not wanting to showi Tony how much those words really affect him. 

He raises an eyebrow, draping the towel around his neck.

"Not much to talk about, Stark. You were drugged, you call me, I got you back to the tower. As simple as that. Are we done now?" he says, voice not betraying any emotion.

"No," Tony says and he grits his teeth. 

"You see, the footage that JARVIS showed me says something different. You could've just picked me up and dropped me off at the medbay. Easy peasy. No muss no fuss. But you didn't. You checked with Bruce to make sure that I was going to be okay. Why? Why didn't you just leave and go to your floor?" Tony questions, sounding frustrated.

Dammit.

"It's nothing special, Stark," two can play at that game. Tony wanted to pretend that everything was fine and whatever they had before didn't exist, he could do it too. "Anyone from the team would've done the same. We care about one another. We work together and have to have each other's backs. That's what being part of a team is about."

Tony smiles, and it's not his real smile this time, it's his fake smile. The sarcastic, plastic smile that he reserved for the press.

"Really? Lying doesn't suit you, Cap, you're not exactly good at it. Why don't you save it from the professionals and tell me why you really bothered driving to the gala just to pick me up," Tony sneered, crossing his arms.

He glared at Tony, feeling all of his pent up anger push against the invisible wall he built to trap it inside and spill over.

And then he was standing in front of Tony, eyes burning and hands clenched.

"You know what, maybe if you weren't such a goddamn ass then you'll find that people really do care about you! But no, you push them away and then question someone when they try to help you despite your shitty attitude. Build a bridge and get over it, Tony. I came to come get you because it was the right thing to do," he spits out.

He doesn't say that it's all a lie and he didn't only help because it was the right thing to do, but because he was in love with Tony that he did it.

Tony raises an eyebrow, smirking. "Is that so, Cap? Well, maybe you should remove the stick from your ass and you'll see just how much you push everyone away with your own goddamn righteous attitude. Why don't you just tell me the real reason why you brought me back to the tower so that I can leave and get back into my lab, okay?" Tony questioned, sounding sickly sweet.

He scowled, unable to take it anymore.

"It's because I love you, dammit! Why can't you see that?" he bursts out and immediately regrets it. He made a grave mistake.

Any other time he would've laughed at the way Tony's eyes widened in shock and the look of surprise on his face, but this wasn't the right time or place for that.

He blinks, stepping back and holds up his hands and he can feel a bright hot flush spread through his body.

"I'm - I didn't mean to say that. Look, just forget I said anything," he mutters, moving to walk around Tony but quick as a whip, Tony grabs his hand, tugging at it until he stops.

"What?" he asks.

Tony's eyes are still wide and he licks his lips nervously before biting at his bottom lip.

"You love me?" he asks softly.

He doesn't say anything, eyes roaming along Tony's body until he reaches his eyes, searching for some sort of clue that Tony's joking.

Of course he loves Tony. He couldn't imagine not loving Tony.

"I do. Always have," he says when he finds nothing but the truth.

Tony nods, eyes flock JG to the door and then his face once, twice, three times until they settle.

"Are you being serious right now? You aren't joking?" Tony asks.

He shakes his head.

"No, Tony. I'm not joking. I've loved you for a long time, but I never said anything because you won't know how it feels when the person that you love keeps on telling you that whatever they were doing was never going to be real and was just something temporary. If that was all that I could get from you then I was willing to take it. And I thought I could do it but even I have my limits, and I'm sorry if I hurt you but Sharon and I were never a thing, and you hurt me too, Tony. So much," he says.

The words choke him up, and he struggles to keep his eyes dry. 

He pulls his hand out of Tony's and walks away.

"Steve, wait! I love you too. I had no idea you felt this way, and it sounds ridiculous right now when we're practically confessing our undying love for one another, but I was convinced that you would never feel the way I did about you. So I was willing to take everything that you were willing to give, even if it meant that you wouldn't stay," Tony confesses.

Despite all the things they've just said, all the dark thoughts and insecurities being put out for the other to see, he finds it in himself to laugh, and soon Tony is laughing too, shoukders shaking and tears running down his face.

Tony steps forward and cups his face between his two hands. 

"I love you, and I'm not going anywhere, okay?" Tony whispers and he nods, eyes burning with tears.

He smiles, hands wrapping around Tony's waist.

"I love you too, Tony. And I'm so sorry for hurting you," he says.

And I that moment, all they could focus on was each other. When their lips met, Steve felt as though everything was finally coming together again, and all we forgiven.

Tony was finally his. And he belong to Tony.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much to @ohjustpeachy and @Slytherin2013. Without all of your comments I would've been lost. @Slytherin2013 was there for me when I had a freak out over this yesterday afternoon and told me not to stress me out ( I totally stressed out even more) but it's finally here. 
> 
> I love you all, and hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it. Have a fabulous Valentine's Day tomorrow everyone. I hope that you get spoilt because you all deserve it❤️


End file.
